


When you're smiling (all is forgiven)

by nea_writes



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Fluff, Multi, UST, dgm secret santa 2016, shipper on deck johnny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9137836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nea_writes/pseuds/nea_writes
Summary: Prompt: Allen braiding Kanda and Link’s hair together while they are asleep (as a prank, or just because he’s tired of them arguing), their reaction when they wake up and have to deal with being stuck together for the day. Your decision on whether or not they figure out how to get unstuck.(Belated) Christmas gift for @teriyaki-and-gyoza!





	

**Author's Note:**

> A very late Christmas gift for @teriyaki-and-gyoza over on tumblr (whose url makes me very hungry...). Despite my deep love for kal, I was hard-pressed for several reasons during this fic, primary of which was: how on earth was Allen going to braid their hair together??? 
> 
> But, I prevailed! 
> 
> Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Years

The not quite town but not quite city they’d settled in was overcast by rain and fog, chilled, and almost miserable were it not for the spreading landscape. Perhaps it was the frequent awful weather, or a product of the long cold winter months, but everyone was rather friendly if a bit suspicious, though it wasn’t hard to find room and food for the night as one might have thought.

After three months of solitude - save for Timcanpy, but Allen tried very hard not to think about the pile of dirt resting inside the pouch he kept with him at all times - it was hard to accommodate living or traveling for four.

No just hard, even, but mind numbingly aggravating. Allen wasn’t a solitary person by nature but by consequence, and adjusting to suddenly having people with him at all times - it was damn near unwelcome. But, that too was a lie. Allen loved being with people, be it strangers or, even better, friends. Except, the ones he were traveling with now weren’t quite friends but not strangers, neither.

It had been a week since they’d escaped the town where everything had converged, and Allen was still a bit jittery after it all. A lot had happened in the very few days he’d spent in the town, and Allen had become very used to ‘not a lot happening’, save for the odd gang boss or bartender chasing him down.

The inn they were staying at was at least spacious enough to accommodate for three and one. Neither Kanda nor Link would let Allen room on his own, and adding Johnny was just too many people for comfort. And, frankly, Allen preferred Johnny separate from him. Not that he cared for Johnny any less, but with the strong likelihood that he would one day wake up and not be himself - well, at least Kanda and Link could fend for themselves reasonably enough.

All that said and done, it left for very tense sleeping quarters. Kanda would not sleep unless he could keep an eye on Link, and Link wouldn’t sleep so long as Kanda was awake, and _both_ of them kept a steady eye on Allen, who simply couldn’t sleep under all the stress. The option of shoving them out was nonexistent, and getting them to calm down and get along was also impossible.

Allen lay face-down on his bed, wondering if perhaps suffocating himself with his pillow might bring him a few precious hours of sleep.

The thing was, he didn’t actually mind rooming with Kanda and Link. Link he’d already lived with for months now, before, and Kanda wasn’t a bad roommate, all things considered. He kept to himself and mostly minded his business - unfortunately, Allen fell under the category of Kanda’s “business,” and Link’s.

And having both of them together was distracting him from sleep in entirely different ways, as well.

He groaned into his pillow and he could almost _hear_ Kanda scowling from the sofa. “Will you shut up?” Kanda demanded, and Allen groaned even louder, flailing on the bed for extra emphasis. “Seriously?”

Allen fell flat on the bed, contemplating if it was even possible to smother oneself.

“Your comments are unnecessary,” Link said from the other side of the room, because like squabbling children they even refused to be on the same side.

“ _You’re_ unnecessary,” Kanda snapped back, and Allen groaned genuinely this time. He shot up from the bed to glare at Kanda, who stared mulishly back.

“Kanda,” Allen started, forcing a smile. “Why don’t you go grab something to eat? Johnny’s probably famished, too!”

Kanda scoffed, most likely at Allen’s word choice, but he conceded easily after a moment or two. There was a softness for Johnny in Kanda that Allen didn’t entirely understand, but appreciated nonetheless. It _was_ rather hard to be mad at Johnny, Allen mused, watching Kanda stand and strap Mugen to his side.

“In fact, I’m going to check on Johnny myself,” Allen announced, shifting to stand as well. He shot a quick bland look at Link, who had made some notion of following. _“Alone._ Don’t worry Link, I’ll be right next door!”

Allen resisted the urge to knock Kanda’s head sideways when he grinned triumphantly at Link. There was some stupid war going on between them that Allen didn’t quite understand, but he’d had enough of it to be tired already.

“Get going, you stupid lout!” Allen said, resting his had on Kanda’s shoulder blade and ignoring the burning hole Link was boring into him. “I’m going to go insane at this rate,” he muttered under his breath.

“You already are!” Kanda said unkindly, and Allen shoved him harder, ignoring the way being this close to Kanda made him feel.

 _It’s just stress and lack of sleep,_ he told himself stubbornly, parting with Kanda at the door to head to Johnny’s room.

* * *

 

Allen wasn’t the type to whine, but relaying the recent events to Johnny was just keeping him up to speed… right?

Allen leaned further on the back of the chair he straddled, arms crossed on top and chin resting there as he pouted, Johnny sitting on the bed beside him cross-legged. He rolled a hard candy Johnny had somehow procured around his mouth, because even if it gave him no sustenance whatsoever, it distracted him from the hunger he felt.

Johnny patted Allen on his head, smiling sympathetically, because what could he actually say? That Kanda and Link were harassing him because they cared? That everything would be okay? That'd it'd be over with soon?

None of those things were true though, and Johnny was an honest man. "Don't worry about it too much," Johnny said cheerfully, then shouted suddenly. He twisted around, dislodging Allen slightly as his hands flailed about. Allen watched in amusement as Johnny rummaged in his bags resting on the floor on the other side of the bed, babbling about one thing or another that was all lost as bottles fell and rolled about the wooden floor.

"Aha!" Johnny said, rearing backwards with a glass bottle in hand. It was a dark opaque with a stained label displaying Komui's familiar cursive writing. "Here, to help you sleep!"

Allen cringed, shifting the candy to one cheek. "One of _Komui's_ potions.... to help me sleep... I highly doubt it'll work as it should." It was the closest Allen to came to outright claiming Komui’s nonsense potions were absolute bullshit.

Johnny settled cross-legged in front of Allen again, brandishing the bottle as if he were trying to sell it to Allen. “I guarantee it works just as it should! Most of the science department used it once we finished one project or another. I’ve used it a few times myself, really. It gives you a very natural sleep, if a bit deep. I haven’t used it recently since we never know when we have to suddenly up and leave, but, well. I think even with this you wouldn’t… sleep all that deep.”

It was no secret that Allen had nightmares and never dreams, but he appreciated Johnny’s attempt.

And, there was a way he could use it to help him sleep, though most likely not in the way Johnny was thinking. He took the bottle, holding it carefully in his gloved hands and hoped his smile did not seem as wicked as he felt. He cracked the candy in half and swallowed it.

“Thank you, Johnny! I’ll try it tonight.”

* * *

 

Perhaps it was Kanda leaving that finally put Link at ease, or maybe it was the pounding rain outside. Or, most likely, it was having Allen in the same room as Link again. Allen closed the inn door behind him gently, not wishing to disturb Link too greatly from the notes he was taking.

Nonetheless, Link looked up, and Allen didn’t miss the way his brows lifted from their pensive furrow, mouth falling soft from it’s hard line. “Walker,” he greeted, placing his pen down and allowing the page to dry. “I thought you’d be longer with Gill.”

Allen quirked his lips at the name. Even Kanda - who avoided saying people’s names if he could - still said ‘Johnny’. Johnny himself had the oddest smile when Link said it, too. No one at the Order referred to Johnny as anything but, except for the odd Finder or Central agent, who had only a file to go by instead of any real personality.

“I didn’t want to bother him too much,” Allen said, taking a seat across from Link at the small table. “He does all those side jobs, and I think it tires him more - all the traveling.” Johnny had spent years at the Order before leaving (for Allen). It was harder on him than on the rest of them, who by occupation or choice have spent years constantly moving.

Link nodded, eyes trailing down the notebook covered in ink. Allen pointedly looked away. He didn’t want to see what Link could have possibly written about him, or Kanda, or Johnny. It was easier to pretend Link was the same as before - simply watching Allen - then to acknowledge who Link was really there for.

And even though Allen gave no indication on where his thoughts went, it was always like this in moments of silence, where conversation fell and neither was willing to speak. It hung between them, heavy and painful, the truth. That Link had betrayed Allen, and that Allen had foolishly allowed himself to feel any kind of loyalty or friendship (or more) with Link. From the get go it had been stated plainly whose loyalties Link kept to, and even more painfully assured that it was not Allen’s.

Despite how aggravating Kanda made everything, Allen always regretted convincing him to leave, because this is how it became.

His hand drifted without thought to his belt loop, sliding his gloved fingers over the leather pouch hanging there.

“I’m sorry,” Link blurted, and Allen paused over the habitual action, removing his hand.

“For what?” Allen asked, knowing already that it was not for the betrayal Allen felt.

Link hesitated, eyes darting to the window beside them, and the tracks of rain. There was a window box of flowers, and Allen idly wondered why the inn keeper even bothered when the rain always tore them out anyways. “For Timcanpy,” Link said at last, and Allen held back the impulse to laugh.

“That’s not your fault,” Allen said, and though it was not unkind it was also not soft. A page taken from Kanda’s book, of being blunt. It was rather refreshing.

Link cast about wordlessly for a response, and Allen held back the ugly thoughts of whether Link had actually done something to Timcanpy.

It wouldn’t be the first time Link had kept a horrible act from Allen (but who was he to cast stones?)

The table they sat at was small, quaint, and every uncomfortable shift Link made knocked their knees together, rubbed them, the rough fabric of their traveling pants unforgiving and catching and making Allen far too aware of the innocent action. Even resting his hands on the table kept them too close to Link’s, whose rested on top the notebook Allen refused to look at.

Link took off his gloves when he wrote - ink stained them, which Link found distasteful - and unbuttoned his cuffs so they wouldn’t catch, and Allen always found his hands somewhat fascinating. Before the trip to Paris to catch Timothy, Allen had wondered why someone so bookish had such broad knuckles and calloused hands, but after discovering Link was a Crow, it made much more sense. In the few brief moments Link had actually touched Allen’s skin bare-handed - Allen could even count them all on one hand - he had noticed the callouses in all the different places.

Kanda, too, had calloused hands, but his were from the constant grip on Mugen, and not the hand-to-hand Link had been trained in. Link shifted again, one knee sliding between Allen’s, and Allen wondered what it would feel like to have such different hands on his skin.

“Would you like some tea?” Allen asked suddenly, lips forming a smile he didn’t actually feel.

Link nodded and Allen left the room hurriedly, holding back a sigh. Link normally would follow him, but he’d know the moment Allen left the inn, and Kanda was downstairs anyways. There was no way for Allen to leave him behind.

Not that Allen really could, anyways, pathetic as he was for companionship.

Downstairs found the matron more than willing to provide Allen with a set of tea, and as Allen waited he made his way towards Kanda, who sat at the bar over a plate of half-eaten food.

He laughed, sitting beside Kanda, the chairs just a smidge too close for comfort. “Missing Jerry’s soba?”

Kanda side-eyed him, taking a sip of his drink. “Don’t mistake me for being like you. I can eat just fine.” Which was the biggest lie Kanda ever told! He ate like a bird and nitpicked at all of Allen’s habits.

Allen rolled his eyes, resting his chin on his hand. “Well, I miss Jerry’s cooking. He made the best mitarashi dango! And the chicken, how he cooked it… not to mention how free it all was!”

Kanda grimaced, most likely at the reminder of the cost of Allen’s appetite. Outside of the Order’s hefty budget, it was a costly reminder how much Allen actually ate, and since akuma were constantly after Allen, he was invoking more often than he actually had been while in the Order between missions. Allen was almost always eating, now.

Speaking of food…

“Beansprout!” Kanda snapped, and Allen jerked his hand back, though not without the leg of chicken it’d been inching towards. “Give that back!”

“No,” Allen said around the meat, chewing eagerly.

“Glutton,” Kanda said, and the way he made it sound like a curse had Allen laughing around the food, and Kanda’s scowl deepened. “Disgusting.”

Allen shrugged, but by then the matron had returned with the tea set, settling it front of Allen and eyeing Kanda none too shyly. Allen returned the look with a glittering smile, taking the innkeeper’s focus off Kanda. “Thank you!”

“My pleasure,” she demurred, finally bustling off to serve another patron.

Kanda shook his head again, returning to poking at his food.

“What?” Allen asked, dropping the cleaned bone on the side of Kanda’s plate.

“You’re disgusting,” Kanda snapped, and Allen had a feeling it wasn’t about his food theft.

“And you’re a pain in my ass,” Allen said, purposely standing from his chair on the side Kanda was and forcing their shoulders to brush, side by side. “But, that’s nothing new.”

Kanda stiffened as Allen reached forward to grab the tray of tea, his arms sliding along Kanda’s resting on the table.

“Thanks for the chicken!” Allen said, laughing when Kanda grumbled unkindly beneath his breath.

It was an easy matter of slipping Johnny’s vial into Link’s cup of poured tea as he juggled the items up the stairs, and when Link gratefully took the cup, taking a sip as he reviewed his notes, Allen thought he might finally get some sleep.

* * *

 

Link was feeling remarkably sleepy tonight. The evening was getting long, and he _had_ spent the last few nights sleeping either not at all or very lightly.

It was hard to, he admitted, sleeping with both Allen and Kanda in the same room.

For strictly business reasons of course, he scrambled to correct. Allen was under Link’s watch and Kanda a dangerous unaccounted for confounding variable Link had not prepared for.

Except, his mind lazily mused, watching Kanda walk into their room from his hazy seat at the table. They were both really really beautiful.

Allen offered Kanda some tea, and Kanda accepted by holding out his hand. Link was jealous, if he was being honest. Despite their constant bickering, there was trust there, an unspoken deep rooted confidence, and it showed in all the little ways. How Kanda was willing to leave Allen alone, and Allen easier to sleep under Kanda’s watch but not Link’s.

Not even just the trust but the easy way they had with each other! That Allen understood all of Kanda’s minute and unspoken gestures and that Kanda knew Allen’s quirks intimately despite ignoring him for most of their acquaintance. It felt like Kanda knew Allen inside and out, better than Link, and Link had been watching Allen for months!

No, Link assured himself. No, Kanda couldn’t know some things. They hadn’t spent countless nights in the same room, Kanda hadn’t been kept up by the nonsensical babbling Allen sometimes said in his sleep. Kanda hadn’t heard his own name mumbled in Allen’s dreams, and Link had.

Allen said something teasingly to Kanda, and he retorted with his usual brand of wit that left Allen smiling.

Kanda didn’t have countless nights but he had Allen’s smile, and Link hated how hot his chest burned with jealousy.

“Are you sleepy, Link?” Allen asked, smiling in a curious way, but not the same way he smiled at Kanda, no.

“I think I might be,” Link admitted, because he normally never let these kinds of thoughts roam free in his mind, and the only reason he was willingly to conclude was that he was more than just a little tired.

“Here,” Allen said, grasping Link’s arm and encouraging him up from his seat, and Link swore his touch almost burned. “I think we’re all a little tired.”

That seemed true, Link thought, glancing at Allen’s tired face and Kanda’s blank one. Maybe it was time for bed.

“Good night,” Allen said.

Link wasn’t sure if he mumbled it back.

* * *

 

Kanda awoke to minute tugs on his hair, the single calm moment between sleep and awareness being the only one for the rest of the day. With a growl he lashed out with his arm at the offender only to smack someone solidly across the face far sooner than he expected to. They jerked back and Kanda's hair was pulled sharply at the scalp, as if someone had laced their fingers there and pulled hard.

"What the fuck!" Kanda growled, trying to turn his face to the side but wincing when it pulled even further. He was laying face down in the bed, and all along his left side was a human warmth that sure as fuck should _not_ be there.

"Stop moving!" Someone hissed by his ear, and Kanda's struggles increased before someone's hand grabbed him firmly at his nape. Kanda fell deathly still, and warm breath wafted onto his right cheek. Who the _fuck-_

"If you would calm down for just one second _maybe_ I could untangle us."

Kanda forced himself to exhale, closing his eyes in that moment to gather some semblance of calm. It was Link.

"What are you doing?" Kanda asked dangerously, voice low, attempting to at least turn his head to the side. He was face-down on a pillow, and the longer he was awake the less sense things made. He never slept on his stomach, and if anyone ever got as close to him as Link seemingly was he would've woken up. The attempt pulled at his hair even more and he hissed angrily, resisting the temptation to just rip it straight off. "What the _hell_ is in my hair?"

"Someone," Link said, with the tone of knowing exactly who that person was, "[braided our hair](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/250837912239865856/253950677687074816/IMG_3362.JPG) together."

"What?" Kanda demanded incredulously, jerking again and cursing at the impulse.

"Stop moving!" Link snapped, and Kanda almost jerked away just to spite him. "Your hair is too long!"

Kanda scowled, wishing he could slice it all off and move on to spearing Link through. "And I give a shit why?"

"Because I can't figure out where it ends," Link admitted, and Kanda felt clumsy fingers tug on the bottom of the interlaced strands, tearing at his scalp in the process.

"Shit," Kanda cursed, shifting to bend an elbow between them, shoving Link aside in the process and practically ripping strands out. "Son of a bitch! Who did this - who the fuck did this?"

"Walker," Link muttered beneath his breath and Kanda felt his rage grow. The little shit!

He wiggled his elbow back, contorting his shoulder in a way that wasn't natural and pulled at the muscles there. Still, he forced it further back, folding his arm up and flailing around for their hair. He felt some of the silkier strands he assumed were his, following the trail until he reached thicker softer hair, instinctively knowing it was Link’s. He had a longer reach than Link, even folded up as they were, and traced the short tuft until he felt the tie finishing the braid.

He felt along the tie and grit his teeth when he found it to be his. That meant the excess rope dangled off somewhere in-between their bodies and would have made pulling it off all that much easier. With a grunt he wrapped his fingers around and, shit, where did Allen even learn how to braid?

He hooked his finger and pulled it off, closing his eyes as the rope's texture gripped the hair around it tighter. It was why he liked this particular tie in the first place, but God if he didn't hate it now.

After it cleared Link's hair it was much easier to get rid of, but Allen must've braided it hours ago, or maybe it was the texture of Link's and his habit of braiding, but it refused to be undone without effort. Even Kanda's hair had settled and readjusted around Link's, and not to mention all the stupid ass pulling he'd done earlier coiling the strands tighter around each other.

He worked irritably at the braid until Link began to struggle, trying to force his own arm to bend and reach as well. Kanda retaliated by pressing hard against him, trapping Link in-between and pressing their thighs closer. "Don't fucking move," Kanda snapped, roughly pulling the braid apart.

"Then stop yanking my hair out!" Link hissed, abruptly moving even closer until they were pressed seamlessly together. Kanda stilled, and in his shock Link managed to squeeze his arm back and smack Kanda's away. Nimbly he unraveled the braid, up until he reached the base of their heads, freezing. "He french braided it," Link said weakly, and Kanda groaned.

“I’m going to murder him!” He spat venomously, and though Link didn’t respond he could feel the current of irritation coiling his muscles tense. In fact, he felt more of Link than he ever thought he would, and sure, Kanda had known Link was a Crow and that Crows had a vigorous training regimen, but now Kanda _intimately_ knew what results that regimen had.

It was impossible to bend their arms back and reach their head, but there was no room for them to bend them forward, and Link suddenly relaxed on the bed, bringing Kanda’s head down further. It felt a lot like giving up, and Kanda was in no mood for that bullshit.

Where the fuck was Mugen? He slapped his left hand around on the bed and Jesus fuck how did the small ass bed even fit the both of them side by side?

_Well, you’re fucking tied together, that’s how._

Somewhere by the head of the bed rested Mugen, leaning against it, and Kanda viciously grabbed it, thumbing the blade free, though he wasn’t sure how he’d get the scabbard off without treating Mugen foolishly, like wiggling it free.

“I’ll just cut it off,” Kanda resolved. Hair grew back, anyways.

“What?” Link squawked, voice rising so high it almost hurt to hear. “No, no, absolutely not! You’re not cutting my hair off!”

“It’s just hair!” Kanda snapped, but something about Link’s reaction… “Or are you that vain about losing your pretty blond hair?”

“Pretty-!” Link choked, suddenly going still, and Kanda realized that the insult was actually a compliment. Fuck!

Well, even if Kanda ignored Link’s rejection, he wouldn’t risk swinging his blade backwards towards their scalp. It seemed admittedly dumb.

“Where is that God damned Beansprout?” Kanda snapped. He couldn’t even tell what time it was, exactly, being stuck face-down, but it felt later than Kanda had ever woken up before.

Before Link could respond, the door to their room opened, and Kanda wished he would die right then. It didn’t matter if it was Johnny or a stranger, anyone seeing him in such a state was going to die and then Kanda would follow soon after murdering the Beansprout, too.

Except, it wasn’t a stranger, or even Johnny.

The laughter was clear and high, and for a short moment Kanda forgot his anger enough to notice it was the first time Allen had laughed like that in a long, long time.

Still, beside him Link’s body had grown increasingly stiffer, and as if to push himself up he’d bent an arm back and placed his palm flat down on the side of Kanda’s back, skin burning hot even though his shirt. When Link realized the impulse was futile, his arm relaxed but his hand remained, perhaps forgotten.

It was enough to remind Kanda of his anger. “Beansprout!” He snapped, turning his face towards Link’s to maybe ease the strain on the pulled strands and speak without getting a mouthful of pillow. Unfortunately, Link had the same idea, and it essentially placed him within far too close of kissing distance to Link. His chestnut eyes were wide, pupils blown, and Kanda became too aware of their shared breath.

“Oh God,” Allen said breathlessly, stepping closer as the wooden floor creaked under his moving weight. “I thought you would have been able to get free by now!”

“Not like this we couldn’t!” Link’s voice sounded angry, but his eyes were locked on Kanda’s and his cheeks were turning an alarming shade of red. “Get rid of it now, Walker!”

“I will, I will,” Allen said, like humoring a child, and the bed dipped on Kanda’s side. Mugen was pulled effortlessly free from Kanda’s lax grip, and he flexed his hand at the sudden loss. “Were you going to cut it off?” Allen sounded almost giddy with hysteria at the prospect, and Kanda wondered why he’d ever wanted Allen to laugh again.

Allen sat with one leg tucked under him, flat against Kanda’s side, and Kanda grunted when Allen suddenly rested across his back.

“Beansprout, what the fuck?” He demanded, wanting to buck and shove Allen to the floor.

“Be quiet,” Allen said, still sounding far too amused, elbows digging into his back and fingers suddenly in his hair, blunt nails against his nape. “It’ll be faster if I’m closer.”

Kanda pursed his lips, suddenly focusing on Link’s eyes and galled to find he’d been staring blankly the entire time. Link, too, had been staring back, and Kanda wanted nothing more than to be free and slam Allen backwards on the bed.

Allen’s chest was pressed firmly against his own, the entire length of Link’s body against his side, and Kanda felt overwhelmingly hot and suffocated.

“Stop wiggling!” Allen admonished, the give of their shirts against each much too noticeable to all the nerves that had sprung alive in Kanda’s back.

“Then hurry the fuck up!” Kanda hissed, closing his eyes as his hair fell more and more loose.

Then, the full weight of his hair fell across his face and head, but he didn’t let it it deter him from whipping up on his right side and grabbing Allen. He twisted, hard, bringing all of Allen’s body across him and in between he and Link, nearly shoving Link off.

Allen grunted on impact, cheeks flushed and eyes wide as his breath left him, and Kanda took the moment of surprise to grab Mugen and press the scabbard against Allen’s collarbones, too rushed and overwhelmed from the sudden movement to move properly.

“What,” Kanda breathed, chest heaving from the energy rush, “the _fuck_ were you thinking?”

There was something very wrong in how wide Allen’s eyes were, and Kanda grimly allowed Link to shift next to Allen, coming up on his left and propping himself up with an arm, glaring down at Allen.

“You put something in my drink,” Link accused, and Kanda blinked, suddenly realizing that Allen might have done the same to him.

“I just wanted to sleep for once!” Allen protested, and though Allen was a great liar, his clothes reeked of beer, day-old sweat, and other people.

“Bullshit!” Kanda said, pressing his sword harder. Allen’s cheeks grew redder as breath came harder to him from the pressure. “You were out all fucking night!”

“Walker, where did you go?” Link demanded, and Kanda almost wished he’d let off, because Kanda wasn’t anywhere near done with spearing Allen through verbally if not physically.

“Just downstairs!” Allen hurriedly said, attempting a smile. “Just playing cards, you know?”

“Walker,” Link growled, warningly, and Kanda knew he was lying too. Allen never played in the inns they stayed at because there was always the risk of a game going wrong.

Allen pouted. “Okay, so it was a few streets over and I ended up getting a _little_ lost,” he confessed, freeing a hand to indicate with thumb and forefinger _how_ lost he’d gotten. Link’s marked right hand came and pressed over the nails, pushing Allen’s fingers together. “Okay, more than a little lost.”

Kanda leaned forward, getting in Allen’s face. “So you drugged us, tied us up together by our _hair,_ and then gambled the night away?”

Allen made a strange face, though, focusing on Kanda and then on Link, and suddenly his hand flipped and grabbed Link’s wrist, bringing the underside close and breathing in deeply. Link choked and Kanda found his anger burning hotter.

Allen’s next words, though, inflamed him.

“You smell like each other,” Allen said, voice weird, and Kanda ignored the way his heart thumped harder.

“We slept all night together!” Link cried, incensed, but to Kanda’s indignation he found it was true. Link always smelled like ink and paper and a little like ash and fire, and Kanda found he couldn’t smell it anymore.

Because _he_ smelled like it now.

Distractedly, he wondered what he smelled like to Allen, and there was something. Something about Allen smelling Kanda on Link…

Then it hit him like a train that he, Link, and Allen were all on the same bed, Allen pinned under him, and he reared back, stumbling off and onto the floor. “Don’t ever do that shit again!” Kanda warned, relieved he sounded angrier than he felt.

“Where are you going?” Allen asked, leaning up on his elbows and bringing himself closer to Link.

“To shower,” Kanda said gruffly, ignoring Link’s broad back and blond hair tumbling down his shoulders, free like he’d never seen it before, and Allen’s flushed face. He turned and left, ignoring, too, Allen’s light-hearted laugh.

He was spending way too much time with them, Kanda reflected, hurrying downstairs. Way too much time, because he was becoming very aware of them in a way Kanda had never been aware of others before.

“Fuck!” Kanda said, wishing that all the places he’d been touched in weren’t burning as fiercely as they were, because Kanda wasn’t a fool, no, he knew what this was.

 _Fuck,_ he thought again, but it was weak and soft and sounded a lot like giving up. He didn’t tolerate that kind of bullshit, he reminded himself, but it did nothing to get rid of Link’s scent on him or Allen’s laughter ringing in his ears.


End file.
